Huskies Back In Top 10

The high-scoring University of Calgary Dinos are the top-ranked team in CIS football for the third consecutive week.

For the second straight week, the Dinos (4-0) were a near unanimous choice for No. 1 in the national media poll as they received 28 out of a possible 30 first-place votes and 295 points from the Football Reporters of Canada panel. Calgary had earned 26 first-place nods last Tuesday.

The rest of the Big Five once again remains unchanged in the fifth poll of the campaign with the Laval Rouge et Or (4-0 / 260 points), Western Mustangs (5-0 / 244), Montreal Carabins (3-1 / 208) and Guelph Gryphons (5-0 / 190) following in order. Laval and Western split the remaining first-place votes, meriting one apiece.

After setting a single-game Canada West scoring record two weeks ago in an 80-18 rout of Alberta, top-ranked Calgary travelled to Regina on Saturday and crushed the Rams 72-8 thanks in large part to the stellar play of fifth-year quarterback Andrew Buckley, who had 478 yards and four touchdowns through the air. At the midway point of the regular schedule, the reigning Hec Crighton Trophy winner is averaging a conference-best 369 passing yards per outing – good for second in the nation – and has yet to throw an interception.

Meanwhile in Quebec City, No. 2 Laval and its top-ranked defence (8.8 points per game) had their most convincing performance of the season in a 64-0 interlock success against StFX. For its part, No. 3 Western dominated visiting Carleton 70-14 to keep its status as the highest-scoring team in the country (65.4 ppg vs. 61.8 for Calgary).

The Week 6 schedule is highlighted by a pair of Top-10 matchups as well as the much-anticipated Panda Game, all on Saturday.

The top-seeded Dinos host No. 8 Saskatchewan at 1 p.m. MT, live on CanadaWest.TV. The Huskies opened league play with losses to Manitoba and Alberta but have since rebounded with back-to-back wins to even their record at 2-2, including an impressive road victory over UBC last Friday.

In the RSEQ conference, No. 4 Montreal visits No. 9 Sherbrooke for the second duel in three weeks between the two rivals. The Carabins took the series opener 32-13 on Sept. 19 in Montreal but the Vert & Or hope for a different outcome on their home turf, where they took powerhouse Laval to overtime on Sept. 12 before falling 27-24.

Meanwhile in the nation’s capital, Ottawa hosts Carleton at TD Place Stadium for the annual Panda Game at 1 p.m. (OUA.TV). In its return to Lansdowne Park a year ago, the event drew over 12,000 fans and saw the Ravens prevail 33-31 on a dramatic touchdown off a Hail Mary on the final play of the contest.

NOTES: Sportsnet and Radio-Canada are once again the official broadcasters of the CIS football semifinals and final in 2015… The ArcelorMittal Dofasco Mitchell Bowl (RSEQ at OUA) and Uteck Bowl (Canada West at AUS) are set for Nov. 21 at 12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern Time, respectively… The Vanier Cup follows on Nov. 28 at 1 p.m. ET in Quebec City… For all the information on the 51st Vanier Cup (including tickets) visit vaniercup.com.